Demon Project: Subject Three
by XxDark-WriterXx
Summary: In the corrupted world of the shinobi, one boy, one demon boy, raised as an orphan by the notorious Orochimaru, lord of Otogakure, tries to find the answers he wants, unknowingly getting himself into something with the depth that he may never get out of.
1. Introduction

Within the river country, an old laboratory laid hidden in a cave. In this Laboratory, Orochimaru, one of the three legendary Sannin from the hidden leaf village, and lord of the hidden sound village, did experiments on five pregnant women. By using forbidden jutsus and rituals, the sound lord was able to summon demons from other dimensions, and use their energy to empower unborn babies. His goal was to turn them into mindless creatures that will strengthen his village's power. His experiment failed.

The babies looked normal. So, Orochimaru called it a failed experiment and slaughtered the women and abandoned the babies in the laboratory to die. One year passed, and the sound lord returned to the abandoned laboratory to retrieve some documents he had left. But when he arrived, four babies' corpses were missing, and the fifth was surrounded by a pact of dead wolves with bite marks around it. To his surprise, the baby was covered in blood, dirt, and dust, but well alive. The baby had a unique, mysterious marking around his right eye. So the sound lord decided to raise the child as a ninja.

Twelve years has passed since the experiment failed. The infant, who is now a pre-teen, has become Orochimaru's secret apprentice, with only three other shinobi knowing of this; Kimimaro Kaguya, Kabuto Yakushi, and Suruya Gimoichi, a medical ninja that is forced to work for the sound. This is the story of a demon ninja's life in the corrupt world of shinobi. This is a story of demon shinobi-Mezuki.


	2. The Boy Demon

Within Otogakure, two people, walking side by side, one taller than the other, and wearing long cloaks that concealed their whole bodies from head to ankles, entered a building. When they entered, there was just one big room that was lit by candles. In the Center of the room stood a tall man that was extremely muscular. The tall cloaked person dropped a large bag of gold coins, and the other stepped forward.

The tall man chuckled, "so this puny punk is going to be my opponent." He got into battle stance, "So Orochimaru, let me get this straight, if I beat this little rat, I will get the money?" The cloaked man that dropped the bag of gold coins earlier had taken off his hood, and revealed himself as the feared Orochimaru.

"Correct..." the lord of sound answered. "And if you lose, I will take you prisoner and do experiments on you, and believe me when I tell you this, the experiments will be painful, quite painful..."

"Risking freedom for money..." He thought about it for about half a second, "Yea, I'll do it" He smiled in confidence, "It'll be like taking candy from a genin." The other cloaked person began taking off his cloak. "What's the point of even taking it off, you're just gonna lose in the end anyway?" The man teased.

The cloak was taken off and revealed a boy with white hair that extended all the way to his neck, hazel eyes, and an irregular marking around his right eye.

The boy looked at the man and said, "You're a complete idiot. Only a retard will bet their soul to someone for something as common as money."

The man became angry, "Do you know who I am pip-squeak?"

"Who cares?" Replied the boy in a soft tone, "Names wouldn't matter once you're dead."

"I am Yoku Simmuri of the hidden cloud village! I held first place in the shinobi games for four years straight, and the only cloud village ninja to have defeated three whole gangs simultaneously without weapons!" The man, or Yoku, informed. "So you better pays respects to me!"

"It doesn't matter what you did in the past. All that wouldn't matter once you're a Ginny pig getting tested on." The boy replied.

"Shut up you little runt!" Tension had built up inside Yoku, "I'm going to kill you punk, but before that, I'm going to break every bone in your body! You should know not to disrespect your superiors!"

"Whatever..." He turned as if he was going to leave, and had put his hands in his pockets, "Just go... I'll let you leave with your freedom. Go on, and don't ever come back." The boy optioned.

"What? You think I'm actually scared of you? Your nothing compared to me!" The man shouted.

The boy threw the coat aside and said, "Have it your way. I gave you your last chance to keep your life..."

"Shut up and die!" Yoku charged at the boy at an amazing speed, and then ran circles around him. "Now I'm going to make you regret disrespecting me!" He jump and shouted, "Death crane style: Crushing Kick of death!"

"Really?" The boy mocked, "I never even heard of that taijutsu art; 'Death crane style', must be an Academy student rank style." Yoku, even though at his speed was inhuman, had missed to his amazement.

"Ha...How could this be? I...I missed..."

The boy, who was still looking away from his opponents, answered, "You're too slow, and I know a fat-ass who can move faster than you." He turned to face Yoku, "Now it's time to 'REGRET' ever playing for your life." The boy raised his arm.

Yoku felt something moving on his legs. When he inspected, he saw something that appeared to be a black quilt coming from under him. "What is this?"

"Isn't it obvious?" The boy walked over to his cloak, "Its chakra and you were right," He closed his eyes, and "There was no point in taking off my cloak. You weren't even practice." A black rhombus appeared in his raised arm's palm. "Meiton: Setsudan no kakebuton!" The chakra quilt began to spin around Yoku's legs.

Yoku tried to stand up, but couldn't. The black chakra constricted him to the floor. "I can't get up! What type of jutsu is this? I...I never seen anything like this!" He began punching the chakra with all his might, "You never put up any hand signs!"

The boy buttoned his cloak till only his head and neck was revealed. "This isn't your average element, only very few can use it. Meiton is the power over darkness. This is me, my power." He turned to Orochimaru and asked, "Lord Orochimaru is it okay if I take his legs with me, it's not like he as much use for them anymore?"

The sound lord had an evil smile on his face and answered, "You may take them..."

"Wait, what?" Yoku screamed.

The boy turned to the scared whimpering man. "You should have never come and gambled your life away to someone like lord Orochimaru. You had the chance to leave safely, but out of greed, you stayed. Now for that, I will put you threw enormous amount of pain..." He put his palm in from of his face, and then slammed it shut and shouted, "Amputate!" The black chakra started to spin around Yoku's legs at a fast pace.

Yoku became full of fear and begged, "Please, stop it! What are you doing? No, please don't! No...No...No...Noooo!" In one quick second, blood was everywhere, and Yoku's legs were no longer part of his body. "Argggghhhhggg!" His eyes became full of tears with his endless screams.

The boy walked over to the screaming man, picked up Yoku's two legs, and walked to the corner of the room. Once there, he revealed a long bag. The boy opened the bag and placed the two legs inside it.

"It's quite strange," Orochimaru began, "every time you defeat a future experiment, you always asks to take a body part. Meanwhile, there are a bunch of slaves that can be used for that."

The boy quickly replied, "Lord Orochimaru, if I use the slaves then there will be less movable targets for the other ninja of this village to practice on." He walked out the door, and then made a stop, "I'm going to meet up with Suruya and have something to eat. I haven't eaten since the morning." He put on his hood and jumped away from the area.

Orochimaru's smile turned into a grin as he walked over to the half dead man and analyzed his wounds, _`He's becoming way to powerful with his Dark elemental ninjutsus. He can be a match for most jounins. And maybe even my dear old sensei…`_ Kabuto arrived at the site. Orochimaru continued in his head, _`He might become a threat one day. Only time will tell...`_

"Impressive job my lord." Kabuto faked to deceive the other ninjas, "I guess you want to take him to the lab..." Orochimaru raised his hand, giving the three ninjas, excluding Kabuto, to take Yoku. They picked him up and began to leave.

"No please! I don't want to go! Please, I'll do whatever you want!" Yoku begged in a crying tone. He tried to struggle free, but in the end, all his attempts were futile.

"Mezuki's becoming quite a ninja, isn't he?" Kabuto asked as he walked up to Orochimaru, "If I'm not mistaken, I could say he could be as powerful as you." Kabuto took out a document, and gave it to Orochimaru.

Orochimaru took the document, placed it in his pocket, "Don't be such a fool Kabuto," He lectured, "He is not powerful as me, not yet anyway..." Kabuto's eyes widened. Orochimaru continued, "He learns too quickly. His lightning and wind jutsus exceeds beyond that of any jounin in this village. His chakra multiplies its power. And if that's not enough, he has an enormous amount of chakra beyond I can obtain in this body."

"So why do you want that Uchiha kid's body?" Kabuto asked, "Mezuki obviously has more potential than Kimimaru and Sasuke combined."

Orochimaru closed his eyes for a moment and opened them. "His strength is not in his body, it's in his spirit. Even if I take his body, Mezuki's unique chakra will go with him. And I doubt his will is that weak."

Kabuto smiled easily, "And there is four more like him out there?"

"I believe so, and that's what I want you to do..."

"What do you mean?" Kabuto asked.

"I was given reports of someone with a similar mark around their eye like Mezuki's. He is in the outskirts of the bird country. I will send you with the jounin that has the exact country." Orochimaru answered.

"And what do you want me to do with him when I find him?"

"Persuade him to fight Mezuki. I want to see if he will unlock any latent power within their fight." Orochimaru answered, "And don't allow him to know anything about his origin. Mezuki still doesn't know anything about his mother or the experiments, and I plan on leaving it that way." Orochimaru began to leave, before the sound lord left, he ordered, "Before you leave, tell a shinobi to bring back team shade."

"Yes lord Orochimaru," Kabuto answered in a military way, "They should be almost done with their training. I wonder how much stronger they gotten."

Orochimaru left.

_`Two demon ninjas going at it, this could be interesting…`_ Kabuto said to himself.

Later that day, Mezuki entered another house, this time; it looked like a regular two story house. A couple of windows, a kitchen, a bathroom, a dining room with flowers in the middle of the table, a sink, and two rooms with a single bed in each room.

Mezuki quickly sat down in the dining room and shouted, "Suruya, are you here? It's me Mezuki!"

An old lady came out from the kitchen with a plate of food. She placed it in front of Mezuki. She then went back into the kitchen and came out with a cup of juice, and once again, placed it in front of Mezuki.

"Thanks Suruya," smiled Mezuki, "It smells delicious." He took out the bag with Yoku's legs and said, "Here are the legs that the hospital needed."

Suruya smiled back, "Your welcome for the food." She took the bag, "Let us hope these are the right size legs that the patient at the hospital needs. And how did you get them, young man?"

Mezuki became a little serious and answered, "I took them from some Yoku guy. He deserved it, he was betting his freedom for some gold."

"Did you ask him if he was sure about it?"

"Well, not really..." Mezuki began to eat. He swallowed his food, drank some juice, and continued, "He seemed really sure that he wanted to do it. I even gave him the chance to leave unharmed, but he refused my offer. So I took his legs..." Mezuki drunk some more. "It's not like he was going to use them again in his life. Let someone else use them that need them."

Suruya sat down, "Besides that, how are your wind ninjutsu coming along?"

Mezuki smiled happily and rubbed the back of his head, "Quite good I think. I was able to increase the length of my wind tunnel three times the original size." He exhaled loudly, "Too bad I don't have anyone to practice on besides Kimimaro, but he is always on missions, and lord Orochimaru is always too busy to fight with." He finished eating all of his food, "Boy was that good, and I don't know what I'll eat without you."

Suruya took the plate and cup and placed it in the sink. "Go get some rest before you leave tomorrow, you will need it."

Mezuki walked up to Suruya, "Yea, but why don't you go get some rest. You've been cooking all day," He turned on the foreside, "I'll do the dishes, then I'll sleep."

"Good that you have manners after all the time you spend with Orochimaru. And remember that the plates get lined up and placed down like you usually do." Suruya walked in the bedroom and closed the door.

A few minutes later, when he was done with the dishes, Mezuki dried his hands and walked into his room upstairs. Once inside, he went to his dresser and pulled out a dog tag. He then lay on his bed and began to toy with it. Suddenly, he stopped and began reading it. "D.P. Mezuki. Time of Birth, 5:57 morning." He closed his eyes, "What does D.P. stand for? Not even lord Orochimaru knows. He started to yawn, "I wonder if it has something to do with my parents..." He fell asleep, "Mother..."


	3. The Sound Four

Mezuki woke up to the smell of pancakes. He looked outside his window and then yawned. _'Looks like a nice day.'_ He got up from his bed and left the room. About five minutes late, after he was done in the bathroom with everything he had to do, Mezuki walked into the dining room. He saw the pancakes on the table. "Cool, blueberry!" He sat down and began to eat. Blueberry pancakes was one of Mezuki's favorite breakfast meals.

Suruya came into the room with a long backpack. "Good morning Boy, I see you began eating before me as always."

Mezuki gobbled down the pancake and then replied, "Sorry Suruya, just want to stuff up before I leave for the hospital. Are those the legs?"

Suruya sat down drank some tea that was already on the table. "Yes, packaged just right so it wouldn't rot. Best be on your way after breakfast."

"Yes mam," He drank some tea, and then continued; "I wonder if Kasumi finished her training yet."

Kasumi was Mezuki's first childhood friend who he met in one of his missions in the land of fire. He was in charge of killing bandits that were of annoyance to the sound four. When he arrived at their hideout, he noticed a young girl tied and blind folded in a cell. He rescued her and finished the mission. Afterwards, he walked her back to her family's house, which was burned down by the bandits with everyone that lived in it dead except for the girl. Mezuki could not bring himself to leave the girl alone there so he decided to bring her back to the sound village to ask Orochimaru if she can stay there, but on the way back, they found a hospital that was in the middle of a forest. Coming to the conclusion that Orochimaru was probably have the girl killed, he told the girl to live at the hospital, and he will come by every so often to check up on the hospital while bringing them some supplies.

Suruya smiled, as Mezuki blushed, "Well, I hope you don't get into any trouble. What is the reason you left that you're going to tell lord Orochimaru."

Whenever Mezuki went to the hospital, he would always come up with an alibi so Orochimaru won't ever get suspicious of his activity. This has been working since Mezuki was ten.

Mezuki laughed at his little white lie, "I went to the lightning country to find and buy some magnetic-tipped kunai because I ran out them during my mission land of snow." Mezuki finished the food.

A month ago, Orochimaru had sent Mezuki to the land of snow with two other common sound ninja to retrieve a lost document. Over there, the squad was ambushed by near a hundred samurai.

"Good, now get going!" Suruya ordered.

"Yes mam!" He went to his room and brought out dark cloak, similar to the one he was wearing when he went to fight Yoku Summuri, and a long black scarf. Mezuki put them on. His entire body was covered, except his face, with the scarf covering only the bottom half of his face. He then put on the backpack with Yoku's legs. "See you later Suruya, I'll be back in three days."

"Whatever boy, just get going before somebody sees you!" She walked into her room and closed the door behind her.

Mezuki left the house and closed the door. He adjusted the backpack so it would be comfortable. `Kasumi…can't wait...` He began jumping on the buildings until he had left the village.

Later that day...

Mezuki saw a thin wire lined up with explosive tags and stopped moving. He knew he wasn't alone in the forest that connected the land of rice paddies and the land of fire. He stopped moving and began to make a sensory scan of his environment. He couldn't detect anybody, so he simply avoided the trap.

As he was jumping through the trees, he noticed many similar traps that he saw earlier. _'I wonder what's going on…' _ Mezuki continued to avoid the traps until he saw he noticed that the thin wire that the explosive tags were connected to was actually not a wire but a thin spider web. He knew exactly the person, the shinobi, who was capable of creating spider webs. _'Kidōmaru…' Even_ though he couldn't detect them, Mezuki was sure that not only the spider hybrid Kidōmaru and the rest of the sound four was nearby.

The Sound Four are Orochimaru's elite bodyguards. Each was given a cursed seal by Orochimaru. All four has unique kekkei genkai that makes them a threatening adversary for normal shinobi. Mezuki was quite sure he was not in the category of 'Normal Shinobi. Regardless, he did not want to head to head with Otogakure's top ninja squad, it may lengthen his journey. He wanted to get to the hospital as soon as possible.

Too late, Mezuki accidently tripped an explosive web. _'Damn it!'_ He quickly got away from the explosion. Smoke filled the air for a short time. When the smoke cleared and he could see again, Mezuki noticed that four, unique ninja surrounded his four ways of escape paths. The boy sighed. He was amazed at their reaction to the explosion to surround the trespasser.

One of the shinobi had two heads with white hair similar to Mezuki but a little longer. Mezuki recognize them has Sakon and Ukon, and where the leader of the group. The two heads had no distinctly different, with only Sakon wearing a red beaded necklace. They were standing in left of Mezuki.

Behind him stood tall a huge fattened man with orange hair that was almost completely bald except for some hair on the side of his head and a Mohawk. Mezuki knew him as Jirōbō. He was the strongest looking among the rest of the sound four, but the boy knew he was actually the weakest among them.

Standing to the right of him, was a shinobi who had four arms and black hair. He was the shinobi that had set the traps of explosive tags earlier…Kidōmaru. Kidōmaru was the only sound four member to actually wear the Hidden Sound village's unique forehead protector.

Directly in front of Mezuki was a girl shinobi with long, red, untamed hair and black eyes. She wore a head band and hat and had an angered expression on her face. Mezuki once had a childish crush on her back when he was still eight years old when he saw her training with the rest of the sound four, but that was a long time ago when she wasn't so angry all the time. Her name was Tayuya. She was equipped with a flute. Although Mezuki never memorized the flute's noise rhythm, he knew it was used to command her Doki, which at this time, was nowhere to be seen.

Kidōmaru was the first to talk, and with a mocking voice, he said, "Looky here; a kid pulled off one of my traps. Possibly a spy, or scout, from the hidden leaf don't ya think Sakon?" His voice irritated Mezuki.

Sakon replied in a more serious tone of voice, "I doubt it. He is small and weak looking and he doesn't even have a village head band."

Ukon quickly interrupted his brother, as he normally does. "We should just kill him. You know that just in case factor. If we get caught, our mission will fail.

_'Mission, what mission? Lord Orochimaru never told me about a mission in the fire country.'_ The boy was dumbfounded. His lord, his father, has never told him about a mission in the land of fire. Has he been hiding out on his apprentice, was all that Mezuki thought about.

"I really don't want to kill a kid; it's not honorable. But if it is necessary to assure that this mission is complete, just hurry up." Sakon gave in to his brother's will.

Jirōbō cracked his knuckles and neck. Now Mezuki was sure that the battle he did not want to fight is about to take place. The big man started making hand seals, but the boy didn't pay attention to them, he was thinking on how this battle might turn out. "Doton: Sōdaina ishi no tebukuro! (Earth Release: Magnificent Stone Gloves)" Parts of the ground began to rise up and cover his arms. Jirōbō charged at Mezuki. "Sweet Dreams kid!" He swung at Mezuki's head, which the boy dodged easily by ducking.

Mezuki then kneed Jirōbō in the stomach, knocking out his air. The man stumbled to the ground, trying to regain his breathe. Mezuki jumped up onto a tree, and began to think of his best possible offense. _'Now how am i going to get away? I can't run; so i have other options but to battle it out here. I can't kill them because they are Orochimaru's bodyguards, but at the same time, they are trying to kill me. Damn this is annoying.'_

Sakon appeared from behind Mezuki with a kunai and went into a pose in attempting to stab the boy. He jumped away from the twins. "I see that you are a good runner, but you won't survive long with just that."

'_He's right, I won't. But I can't allow them to see my jutsu. I can't risk them seeing my chakra natures, they might report back to lord Orochimaru.'_ He fixed his mask just in case they recognized him from the village. He wasn't too worried about them recognizing him because most sound ninja did not even know who he was. Orochimaru made sure of this. Mezuki was his little secret. Whenever the boy made conversation's with the other ninja in Otogakure, he made sure that he was using a transformation technique.

All of a sudden, one of Tayuya's Doki came from above Mezuki and smacked in down into the ground. 'Now they show up.' When Mezuki tried to get up, he noticed something had bound him to the ground. When he analyzed it, it was spider webbing. He was now stuck to the ground, surrounded by Otogakure's most feared team.

An angered Jirōbō got up, coming back to his senses. "I'll make you wish you had never done that; you worthless trash!" He picked up a nearby boulder, and hurled it at the bounded Mezuki. The unmovable kid could only stare at the object of his death with his eyes wide open.


	4. Unexpected Help

Mezuki stared as the giant boulder came closer and closer to making contact with him. Before the boulder hit him, it suddenly shattered. _'What the...'_ A Doki that was massively muscular and had no shirt was the cause of this.

Jirōbō shouted at his smaller squad member, "Why the hell would you do that Tayuya?" His voice was full of anger.

Tayuya frowned and crossed her arms, "Don't shout at me fat ass! It is not my fault that this kid kicked you in the chest."

"What does that have to do with you smashing the boulder!"

She played a rhythmic noise with her demonic flute. The Doki that had hair covering his face and neck flew at Mezuki and cut the webbing. He became free. Tayuya continued, "I'm bored. Try killing this kid without our help if you think that you are strong enough."

Jirōbō calmed down, and then smirked, "Whatever...I will show you that I am strong enough to kill this trash!"

_'Are they going to intervene?'_ Mezuki asked himself. He didn't know the sound four well enough to determine if he was falling into a trap or if they were serious. He was grateful to Tayuya for helping him, so he decided to harm her less.

"Doton: Kekai-Dorou Doumu no jutsu! (Earth Style: Barrier Earth Prison)." Jirōbō shouted, catching Mezuki off guard. Jirōbō slammed his two palms onto the ground, causing a small tremor as he did. The ground around Mezuki began to rise, until it had sealed him in a small dome.

_'So this is__ Jirōbō'__s infamous Earth Prison. Not bad as a technique, but it won't last long against me.' _Mezuki began making hand seals. 'Now that they cannot see me, I am free to use a jutsu to break out of this prison.' When he was finished, he whispered, "Raiton: Ikazuchi Hakai no jutsu! (Thunder Destruction)" He placed his right palm onto the ground, and the left into a half tiger hand sign. He closed his eyes. By focusing chakra into his right palm, he transformed it into lightning.

Jirōbō laughed, "Like I said, he is just trash like the rest of the shinobi from the hidden leaf!" Sakon and Tayuya was the only member of the sound four to sense the enormous build-up of chakra coming from inside the prison dome. Tayuya smiled at her ignorant teammate.

From inside the dome, Mezuki had build-up a large amount of chakra. _'This is sure going to stall my journey to the hospital...'_ He opened his eyes and then shouted, "Karamari! (Lightning)" All of the lightning chakra that had been building up on his palm had burst in all directions, instantly blowing way debris from the destroyed prison dome.

"What the fuck!" Jirōbō shouted in a confused state from not knowing that the boy that he called trash had that much chakra. He got hit by the incoming lightning and so did Sakon and Ukon, blowing away and knocking out the three of them. The boy stood straight as he inspected his environment. Only Tayuya and Kidōmaru were left standing.

Kidōmaru became fearful of the kid, now knowing that he has powerful Raiton ninjutsu that can take out two members of the sound four. "I will make you pay for that punk!" He made placed his palms on the ground, in a position of summoning, and then commenced the summoning contract, "Summoning Technique: Kyodaigumo (Giant Spider)!" A burst of smoke appeared from where Kidōmaru had placed his palms. "Now to step up my level and finish him. You shouldn't have made this battle this difficult. Get him Kyodaigumo!"

From the burst of smoke, appeared a humungous spider. It had a black and gray color all around his body except for the orange design on his back. It shrieked at his little opponent.

Kidōmaru laughed, "You think that your level is high enough to beat a boss like my spider, huh!" The spider crawled quickly to atop a tree, and released a sac that Mezuki knew to have more baby spiders, that can be more annoying than the mother. Tayuya just looked at the battle that was going on below her.

_'I got to take out this summoning before I risk losing my cover.'_ He took out two kunai, both having a steel tipped and have a steel handle. These were Mezuki's favorite weapon to use in his practice because Saruya had showed him how to use it for the first time when they were in a mission in the lightning country. Since then, Mezuki has become a master of the steel tipped kunai.

Kidōmaru smiled at the small weapon as he took a false analyses of the situation at hand, and said, "Now what is that supposed to do to a giant summoning. It seems that your level of difficulty isn't what you first made it seem like. And with that jutsu you had just finished using, you probably have very little chakra left."

Kidōmaru was wrong. Mezuki had an incomparable amount of chakra, even more than Orochimaru. And Kidōmaru was ignorant over the situation that is about to occur.

"Now finish him Kyodaigumo!" The egg sac that had hung above the boy had opened, releasing hundreds of baby spiders the size of the average dog. They rained down hard, blocking all paths to escape. But that did not bother Mezuki; he did not want to run away from this battle. He placed his right fingertip onto both tips of each kunai, sending small amount of chakra into it. He then threw on kunai, killing one of the spiders. "What is two Kunai going to do against hundreds of spiders?"

Mezuki raised his right arm, which was holding his second kunai, and began spinning it. The second kunai, for some unknown reason, began moving in a circular pattern at a high speed. _'I need to put more chakra into this'_ and so he did. A chain-like line began to form between the two kunai, and large amounts of lightning were coming out from the connection chakra between the two kunai and the thrown kunai itself. Mezuki began spinning it even faster in a circular motion, killing all spiders that got too close to the boy.

Kidōmaru's eyes had widened, as he had regained his fear. "What the hell is that jutsu?" Even though the boy had never told him, it was a simple connection of kunai through the use of lightning chakra that connects to steel.

_'And you're supposed to be the smartest among the four.'_ The remaining twenty spiders had all gained their distance. He began spinning the lightning chained kunai similar to a cowboy spinning his lasso. Mezuki then threw it at the giant spider, who failed to dodge it. The lightning chained spun around Kyodaigumo, and the spider began to scream in pain and agony. He tightened it, and almost less than two seconds, the spider exploded. Green blood had splattered everywhere, covering everyone besides Mezuki and Tayuya, who had both achieved in finding cover from the blood. In the next moment, the baby spiders had disappeared in white smoke that had vanished almost right afterwards.

"Ewww, what the fuck Kidōmaru? Your damn bug got this nasty shit over us!" Tayuya shouted.

Kidōmaru didn't know what to do or what to say. He just stood where he was, stunned, without a thought in his mind. His eyes widened when he sensed a powerful chakra behind himself. Kidōmaru didn't even have a chance to look at what it was or to defend himself. It was Mezuki, and with a quick motion, back-handed slapped Kidōmaru in the face. As he fell from the tree he was standing on, the boy had threw his lightning chained kunai, again in a lasso movement, and got hold of Kidōmaru's right leg. He spun Kidōmaru around twice before slamming him to the ground, unleashing a huge lightning explosion at the impact. Kidōmaru became unconscious.

All of a sudden, Mezuki sensed a huge amount of chakra for a normal shinobi arise from nowhere, though it did not compare to what Mezuki had. When he turned, he saw a huge monster standing with its fist clenched. It did not take long for the boy to notice that it was Jirōbō, but he had changed not only in his chakra, but his appearance. His hair had grown down to his back, his skin color had darkened a little, and his eyes had turned a bright yellow, with his sclera turning completely black. _'This is lord Orochimaru's curse seal in its second stage. I must say, it can make a genin become has powerful has a jounin.'_ In a blink of an eye, Jirōbō was right in front of Mezuki, and he swung his fist. The boy blocked the attack with his two palms, just as he was trained to do, but was caught off guard at the increase of strength the ninja gained. Mezuki realized it was an effect from the curse seal. He was pushed back a few yards just by sheer power from the sound shinobi. Mezuki caught his balanced, but had lost his weapon when the attack had made contact with him, being thrown too far for him to retrieve it in this battle.

Jirōbō smiled at boy, who he believed had a disadvantage, but Mezuki knew that the half monster half human never stood a chance against him. "Feel the wrath of my Gan Geki! (Boulder Strike)" Mezuki believed that it was only natural for one to boast when he/she truly believes that they are winning. Again, with quick speed, Jirōbō appeared from in front of Mezuki and swung his right arm.

Mezuki ducked and made hand signs in an incredible speed, so fast that a person with normal vision could not have told what animal signs they were making. "Fuuton: Ōkaze suiryoku no jutsu! (Wind Style: Great wind thrust)" He jammed his right palm into Jirōbō's stomach. A great force of wind chakra thrown Jirōbō away, knocking him into a tree. The angered brawn became even more violent as he charged at the boy. The boy repeated his last jutsu, but this time, he jumped slightly, dodging Jirōbō's swing and forced his wind thrust into his head; hammering Jirōbō into the ground creating a small crater. _'And stay down…' _The monster had reverted back to his normal self, proving that he now was actually out cold. He looked at the other sound members, and took a moment to see if they would do anymore surprise attacks, but now he was confident that they have been taking care of. Now, one was left standing.

All that was left standing was Tayuya and her three Doki. She knew that the fight was pointless, and this kid was too overwhelming for any of the sound four. She sighed, and played a small rhythm with her flute. She then said, "Dispel…" And with that, the three Doki had vanished. She placed her flute in her pants pocket. "Well, now what. You are going to knock me out too?"

Mezuki shook his head and turned, getting ready to continue his path to the hospital, though he will have to delay it by making some unnecessary turns just in case Tayuya decides to follow him.

Tayuya smiled, "Thanks kid, and do not worry, I will tell the rest that you knocked me out also and I happened to wake up before them. I am sorry for hitting you earlier, but you know how it is with us sound ninja, kill before we ask. See you around…" Did Tayuya of the north just apologized for her actions? Mezuki always knew that she had a nice personality. She turned her back also, so she would not lie to the rest of her teammates if they ask her which way he had gone. "I take it that you are not from Konoha…" When she looked back, Mezuki was gone.

After ten minutes of random turns, Mezuki began following his path again. The battle with the sound four had really taken much time. _'Boring battle; I should have been lord Orochimaru's bodyguard; I could do a better job at it.'_ He stretched, "Kasumi, I am almost there…" He began jumping at a faster pace.


	5. The Hidden Hospital

It seemed to Mezuki that he had been walking in a forest that has no end, but he knew he would eventually reach his destination. This would have been the fifteenth time Mezuki would have walked back to the hidden hospital in the fire country. The sky has become black now, and only the crickets made noise in the forest. This has always calmed Mezuki whenever he was upset at something; the smoothing tone of the crickets' music, the innocent trees, and the lack of violence had all played a vital role in the boy's calming.

After another hour of walking, he saw a dim light that grew brighter the closer he went to it. He now was at the Fire Country's Hidden Hospital. The hospital wasn't very large, only three stories high with a small basement for hiding whenever shinobi came around. The hospital staff was very cautious of ninjas from villages because they were not to be trusted due to the fact that their hospital might be uncovered and ransacked, or even worse, destroyed. Due to this, the hospital had always had a hard time finding supplies they needed to cure an injured passenger, and they have never charged a patient for healing them.

The hospital had barely any windows; just eight; two on each side of the building. The material used for it was pure concrete, which prevented the building from ever collapsing. The front door was wide enough for three averaged size people to walk in all at once.

Mezuki stopped and stared at the poor excuse for a hospital that he considered his true home. Not like in Otogakure, where he was forced to pretend he was a ruthless criminal who served an evil leader. Here, he was able to be himself, his true self; a boy with the desire to help anyone but also not afraid to fight when the time called to him. He was ashamed of it, but at the same time, proud of it for all the lives she has saved over the years.

Out of the front door, came running a girl with long, black, silky hair. She had black eyes, and wore white shorts that extended to her thighs and a white, short sleeve shirt with white sandals. This was the common dress attire for the nurses at the hospital. The girl came charging at Mezuki, and jumped on him, giving him a huge hug; almost knocking him over. She looked like she was around Mezuki's age, but a little more innocent.

"Mezuki, you finally came back! I missed you a whole lot!" The girl cheered as she had let go.

Mezuki smiled, "Hi Kasumi, I missed you also." He got serious again when he saw someone else come out of the hospital. It was a middle aged man. The man had short; casual messed up, white hair. His skin had a dark tone to it, and the man's eyes had a droopy look in them. He wore the average chunin garments and had worn a village headband across his forehead. It was a headband representing Kumogakure, or the hidden cloud village. The chunin was moving around as if he was looking for someone. Mezuki had an idea of who that person may be looking for. He turned to Kasumi, but still keeping his eyes on the shinobi, "Kasumi, who is that?"

She turned to where Mezuki was looking, and smiled, as if sensing his discomfort. "Oh, that is Darui from Kumogakure; he was injured in the forest while looking for someone from his village. I think the person's name is Yaki or something like that."

'Yoku Simmuri…' His suspicion proofed itself correct.

Kasumi continued with her explanation. "We found him unconscious and took him here. We explained to him to keep this place a secret from everyone else. He asked us if we have found his friend, but we told him that we haven't. I invited him to stay here for as long has he wants, but he said he is in a hurry and thanked us." Kasumi exhaled, "Anything else me lord?" She joked.

He did not find her humor that funny as he would have normally had. "Well okay…" He gave the bag with Yoku's legs. "Here are the legs that you needed for the operation.

Kasumi took the bag with no hesitation, and she knew that Mezuki knew that she was disappointed in his action in gaining the legs, but she also knew that it had to be done, and that Mezuki did it in for a good cause. "Thank you Mezuki, meet me in the lobby later. I will give the legs to the head doctor, and then I will take a shower. I should be done in three hours." She half smiled and walked back into the hospital. Mezuki waited until Kasumi was completely in the building before walking to confront the man called Darui.

He got the man's attention by appearing directly in front of the man's path. Darui looked down upon the boy and smiled in a polite gesture. "Well what do we got here? Are you another kid who wants to learn how to be a ninja?" All day, kids from the hospital have been asking him to teach them ninjutsu.

'How arrogant...whatever, I will get answers from this shinobi...' He smiled in a childish manner and replied, "Yes sir, can you show me what you can do? I want to learn everything there is to be a ninja!"

Darui smiled in self-enthusiasm. "Sure kid, just one jutsu okay?" Mezuki nodded his head in agreement. The man made performed some hand signs and shouted, "Raiton: Kobushi o hikiokoshita! (Lightning Release: Sparked Fist)" Chakra quickly enveloped Darui's right hand and turned into lightning.

'Lightning user uh...still, I sense he has more in hiding...' Mezuki's stared at the man in a false amazement. "Cool, anything else?"

The man became agitated with the boy. "Look kid, I'm in a real hurry, so can I show you some other time?"

Mezuki decided to ask a question that he was dying to ask since he met Yoku, but he asked it in a real serious voice. "Why was Yoku away from the village? Was he a traitor to the village?"

Darui's assumptions of the kid totally changed. "That is none of your business kid, go away!"

"Tell me what I want to know!" Mezuki ordered, as if he was the man's superior.

"Look kid, if you don't leave now, I am really going to hurt you. So scram!"

"Like you can lay a finger on me..." Mezuki replied, taking the challenge.

"Since you asked for it kid..." Darui smacked Mezuki across the face with his lightning palm, sending a shock across the boy. Mezuki fell to the ground shaking from the electricity that ran through his body. "I told you kid, leave!" Suddenly, Darui noticed something odd about the boy, and when he looked, he saw that the being that he had assaulted was a clone, that had vanished in white smoke. "A clone huh? I guess this boy didn't appear compared to what he is."

Mezuki appeared from behind Darui and kicked him in the back, sending the man to the ground a few feet away. "Now, give me that information!"

'I guess I really underestimated this kid...I think I should give him a taste of my true lightning...' Darui stood up and dusted some dirt off of his pants. "Now you're getting me mad kid." Darui made some hand signs and shouted, "Suiton: Hōsui jū! (Water Release: Water Cannon)" From his mouth, high pressured water appeared that was aimed at Mezuki. Mezuki dodged it, and threw a kunai at perfect accuracy. Darui tilted his head to the right, making the kunai miss its target.

Mezuki, still off the ground, performed hand signs; "Fuuton: Shinkūgyoku. (Wind Release: wind spheres)" He exhaled hard, and shot out dozens of small wind pellets at a fast speed. Darui turned and began running away from the spheres, barely dodging the pellets with each step. He rolled to the right and threw a chakra enhanced kunai, but was repelled by the wind pellets.

"Not bad kid, but try countering this!" Darui back flipped away from the incoming wind and quickly performed hand signs and said, "Raiton: Kuropansa! (Lightning Release: Black Panther)" All of a sudden, lightning natured chakra began shooting out of the man's body. But this was no ordinary lightning chakra; the color of it was black.

'What is that?' Mezuki stopped shooting his wind spheres and began analyzing the jutsu. The black lightning began taking the form of a giant cat as it violently raced to the boy Mezuki jumped up; dodging the cat's charge, but the lightning turned and began another attack. 'I guess I underestimated this guy. Regardless...' The panther tackled the boy and surrounded the boy in swirling lightning before exploding, causing smoke to surround the entire hospital.

"Sorry kid, but you pushed me to that point. You can't just ask for confidential information." Darui informed the boy, who he currently presumed to be dead. He turned and began to walk.

"Don't they teach you in your village to never let your guard down, even if your opponent is small?" The boy appeared from above Darui. The unguarded man looked up, and got kicked in the face. As he fell down to his defeat, the boy caught the man by his arm, and slightly raised him. "Can I just get the information so I can stop this one-sided battle?"

Darui looked up at the boy as he stood up. "How did you get away from my black lightning? I could have sworn I got a direct hit on you. It should have killed you."

Mezuki looked back at the hospital, hoping that Kasumi did not see the battle that just ended. When he was sure, he turned back at Darui and answered his question. "Black lightning huh; interesting jutsu; I might want to learn it one day." The boy noted. He noticed that Darui had a huge tattoo on his left shoulder, that in kanji, represented kamanari, which means lightning. "Anyways, the way that I dodged the lightning was actually quite simple. Before the lightning had made contact with me, I noticed that it was blocking your view of me, which gave me just the time to cast two jutsus that you were completely unaware of."

"And that is?" Darui asked, still ignorant over the situation.

The boy smiled, "I guess I can tell you…" The boy jumped a few yards away from Darui. "It is like a Kekkei Genkai ability that I have, though I don't know what clan because I never knew my family or the clan that they might have come from." Mezuki looked up at the sky, as if remembering the first time he used the jutsu. "Meiton: Kanpekina shīrudo! (Perfect Shield)" He stretched out his right arm forward then bent it. At a quick speed, Mezuki's dark chakra took the shape of a rounded shield that surrounded his entire body. "Meiton: Dākurīpu! (Dark Leap)" He closed his eyes and suddenly disappeared.

"Where'd he go?" Darui asked himself.

"Behind you…" Mezuki appeared from behind Darui.

"Look who has the interesting jutsu now."

"Now, for my answer…" Mezuki quickly set the topic back to what it was.

Darui was still hesitant about giving the boy the information, but soon decided that it wouldn't be dangerous for the boy to know the truth about Yoku. "Sure kid, but I must tell you that it really isn't that much information to tell you. Mezuki just looked at the man, waiting for Darui to tell him the information. "Yoku Simmuri is a shinobi from the hidden cloud village. Three months ago, he was caught and charged with stealing large amounts of money from the village's income to gamble it away in other villages. We suspected that Yoku was the thief but we have never got any evidence on him until that night. When the village's jounin were sent to arrest him, he fled the country. We tracked him down this much. I know he is either in the fire country or near its borders."

He took a brief break before starting again. "Yoku really is really not much of a fighter, but he is extremely greedy. Probably will do anything for some ryo; even kill I presume. That is what the Raikage fears the most. If Yoku kills a high positioned person, and someone catches him, it can start a war with Kumogakure. That is all that I know about him. Why do you want to know about him? Have you met him?"

Mezuki believed everything that Darui had told him because Yoku would have killed him for the ryo that Orochimaru was promising if he would have actually won the battle. "I thought I saw him in the Hidden Leaf. But I could be wrong." Mezuki lied so Darui doesn't track Yoku to the Otogakure. "Sorry I had to fight with you."

"Thanks kid and I have one more question for you."

"Yea?"

"What village do you come from?" Darui asked.

Again, Mezuki had lied; "I am not from any village. I just travel from place to place learning all that I can from various people." For some reason, Mezuki truly believed the first part of his lie, which he was not from the Hidden Sound. But he doesn't know why. He was raised there in fact. Something deep inside made it almost impossible to call Otogakure, home.

Darui acknowledged it and began leaving the hospital. "I see…well, I best be going now." Mezuki nodded his head as the man ninja jumped away from the hospital.

"I didn't need to fight him for information that I half knew already. Oh well…" Mezuki began walking to the hospital front door to get some rest. When he was a few feet away, about twenty kids came running to him, almost crushing to him to the floor. "What the hell? Get off of me!"

"Teach me how to do that!"

"Mr. Ninja, show me how to throw a kunai!"

"Do that jutsu again! It was cool!"

And so on. Mezuki looked bummed out and annoyed. "No! Ask someone else!" But the kids kept begging. He looked up at the third floor window and saw Kasumi smiling at him. Mezuki smiled back.


	6. Mezuki and Kasumi: A Friendship is Born

**Bolded texts are texts that are based off the past. Like a flashback or a thought from the past. Also may be a scene from the past.**

Mezuki was lying on the couch in the main lobby in the hospital sleeping. He needed the rest after the long journey. The couch, as always, was the only aspect of the hospital that Mezuki thought was classy, due to its fine leather material and comfortable sleep that it had provided to anyone willing to sleep in a make-shift building. When sleeping, Mezuki was as calm as a tree on a nice spring day on a plain. He never snored, moved, or sleep talked. But anyone who knew Mezuki or his sensei, Orochimaru, knew that this was the time where their senses are doing the most work. Orochimaru trained Mezuki to increase the productivity of his hearing and smelling senses when asleep, because when asleep, a human is in its most vulnerable state.

Kasumi walked into the room, with her hair damp hair hanging freely from her head. She smiled at the motionless body of her dear friend. She wore a small grey shirt that showed her belly-button and wore a red silk pajama pants. As she expected, Mezuki woke up as soon as she stepped a foot closer to him. He turned his head in her direction. "Good morning Mezuki, had a nice sleep?"

Mezuki yawned, "It was okay. How did the operation go?" Mezuki stretched and sat up straight, giving room for Kasumi to sit next to him.

As she knew he wanted, she sat down. Kasumi's faced changed from happy to signs of worry as she explained to him her latest news. "I am not sure. It was a perfect size leg for the patient, and the correct blood type, but the chances that his body is going to accept its new part are very slim." She began to lie back, getting comfortable, before continuing speaking. "I am sure that the patient is going to be okay; we had a famous medical ninja with us today during the surgery. She was really amazing Mezuki. Her skills surpass anyone here. I want to be like her when I grow up." Kasumi saw the tension buildup in her friend's face. "Do not get all wild up Mezuki; she was not part of any village by the looks of it. By the way, she is a friend of the head doctor."

Mezuki had cooled down before speaking back. "Well, then you are going to be better than her. I promise you that." This was the usual way of getting Kasumi to start a goal and finish it all the way. He has been doing it since the same night they had met. Mezuki began to remember the day, as if it was only a few weeks ago.

Time rewind-Mezuki and Kasumi both eight years old…

Border of the land of fire and the land of waves

**Mezuki was running through a mou****ntain trail with two other sound shinobi. Mezuki was wearing his usual Otogakure shinobi mask and uniform. The only difference was that Mezuki was not wearing the headband from the village. The three man team was led by Kyaputen, who Mezuki knew to be an elite sound ninja that didn't have a curse mark. The only reason why lord Orochimaru did not give the man a curse mark was due to the fact that Kyaputen was forty three years old and had cancer. Besides that, Kyaputen was a very reliable ninja.**

**The other shinobi, who was a lot younger, only in his twenties, was Tesaki. Tesaki was a very arrogant ninja, but was able to back it up in a fight. The only flaw with him was the fact that he didn't feel like his lord wasn't paying enough attention to him and would do anything to get that special attention. Tesaki was ready to prove himself in this mission no matter what. **

**Mezuki was weary of his two teammates, especially Tesaki. Kyaputen raised his arm, signaling the rest of the squad to halt. The area was quiet, but the team had long sensed the presence of their pursuers.**

**"Do we kill them now?" Tesaki asked in an almost excited tone of voice. Kyaputen nodded his head, authorizing Tesaki to attack their pursuers. "Finally..." Tesaki turned and cracked his fingers and neck.**

**The pursuers soon appeared. There were ten of them, all ninja that abandoned their home village. They surrounded the small squad. One of them began to talk. "You have no right to be in this territory, leave at once or suffer the consequences."**

**Tesaki smiled inside his mask. "I would like to suffer the consequences." He jumped and performed hand signs, "Kodō no Oto ga doramu! (Sound of the Beating Drum)" Like most sound shinobi; Tesaki has ninjutsu that are based off of various forms of sounds. Tesaki focused chakra into his palms, and began to repeatedly clap them at an enormous speed, sending sound waves in all directions, even at his allies. Mezuki and Kyaputen were prepared for this, and both created chakra barriers, deflecting the waves to the enemy. When the sound waves it the enemy, they were either ripped apart or flung away. Tesaki landed and took a small analysis of his environment. He seemed disappointed. "Two seconds of fighting...really?" He walked up to the bandit that had threatened the small team. "'You have no right to be in this territory, leave at once or suffer the consequences.' I don't know where you were going with that by the looks of it."**

**The bandit was bleeding through his mouth and began to laugh maniacally. "Don't worry about that threat. You may have defeated us with no effort, but our bosses will make sure to take your heads and feed them to the dogs."**

**"Yea, whatever you say..." Tesaki took out a kunai and stabbed the man in the chest, causing the man to die slowly and painfully. Mezuki had always felt weird after watching someone die, maybe because he had never killed someone, no matter what the mission was. But Mezuki was never scared to kill if he had no other choice. After Tesaki was finished, they began to continue their mission.**

**After five minutes of quiet running through the mountain, Kyaputen started to talk, explaining to Mezuki and Tesaki exactly what the mission was. "Lord Orochimaru himself gave me the mission to enter these mountains. The mission is to take out the bandit group that has been stealing Otogakure's food supply. They have been doing this crime for over three months, and the sound four has tracked them back here. So lord Orochimaru gave us the order to eliminate all present bandits in the mountain and any other allies of theirs we may find, except for the head leader of this group; he wants him alive. Afterwards, we will blow up the entire base with the charges that Tesaki brought along to make sure that any other members of the organization won't find traces of us."**

**"That is exactly the mission I was born for!" Tesaki cheered.**

**"We will attack the hideout at the break of dawn." Kyaputen ordered. Mezuki looked up at the stars, and kept his gaze on the small lights, as if they were casting a genjutsu. He couldn't wait to go back to Saruya's house back in the village.**

Back to the present time…

"So Mezuki, any luck in finding out about that Darui guy. I saw you fighting him earlier." Kasumi looked at Mezuki with a small tint of discontent.

Mezuki looked away from Kasumi in a guilty expression that he failed in covering. "Well…" He tried to make up an excuse, but couldn't. So, Mezuki went with telling the truth, or telling some of the truth. "I was making sure that he was not going to compromise this hospital." He looked back at Kasumi, who still looked upset. "And…I wanted to protect everyone here from you know; corrupted ninja."

Kasumi sighed, "What am I going to do with you Mezuki." The girl stretched her back, showing more of her lower stomach. Mezuki looked down at the girl's abdomen, and saw the marking what shinobi actually are when they have full authority over another human's life. That marking was a small scar left by a kunai stab that wasn't healed quickly. Mezuki had always wished that he could have done more for this girl, his friend, at the time of the stabbing. Kasumi saw Mezuki looking down and felt violated. "What you looking at?" If Mezuki was anyone else, she would have slapped him and walked away. The truth is, Mezuki was the only person to see Kasumi in her naked form, and lived.

In the past…

**Three shinobi were hiding behind a huge boulder, looking down at a small entrance into the mountains. There were two guards that were both big-boned and tall. The guard on the left was carrying a huge mallet and the other was wielding an axe. Kyaputen made a hand movement. Mezuki knew this hand movement to be a command that means to disable any enemy by stealth. Mezuki stood up and looked at the guards. **_**'They seem stupid enough.'**_** He picked up a small rock and tossed it to the opposite direction. The two guards became startled at the sudden noise and looked at each other.**

**After a moment of staring at one another, one of them commanded, "Well, we ain't getting paid to look pretty. Let's check it out." The guards began to investigate the area where the noise came from. "Maybe we will get lucky and find a bunny. I am hungry." Mezuki ran up silently behind the two much bigger opponents and hit one on the neck with a quick chop. "Hey, what the…" Before he could finish the sentence, Mezuki kicked him across the face with a spiral kick that was executed perfectly, sending him unconscious. Mezuki turned to his two comrades, signaling them that the area was clear currently.**

**Tesaki walk up to Mezuki and looked down at the two unconscious, but still very much alive. He smiled evilly and took out a kunai, the same one that he had used to kill the other bandit. "The mission is to eliminate all bandits except for the leader; and I am quite sure these two are not one of the leaders. Let me teach you a lesson kid. Killing an enemy is very fun. But, if you give your enemy a slow, agonizing death like I did that other bandit, you will feel like you have been giving a new life for taking a life. Do you understand?" He sliced each one in a throat, allowing them to bleed out and suffocate. "Lord Orochimaru is so going to be proud of me after this mission!" One again, Mezuki turned away.**

**Kyaputen investigated the possessions of one of the guards. After a thorough search, he found a key and a crumbled sheet of paper. When he unfolded it, the paper turned out to be a map of the base. "Okay, according to this map, the leaders' den should be in the far end corner of the cave. The ration room is in the western wing of the base. Tesaki and I will go to kill the leaders. Mezuki, since your young, I am going to give you a simple assignment. Go to the ration room and gather any supplies you can for the road back. Mezuki felt offended by the assignment and the statement that he is getting a simple assignment. He knew he was the strongest member there, but the other two didn't know. They did not know that he was their lord's apprentice. They never even saw him in an actual fight and they were already judging him. Mezuki just ignored the comment and agreed to the task. "Commence mission now." The three ran into the cave ninja-like.**

**Around a minute after entering the mountain base, Mezuki had taken a turn to go to the west wing and separated from his squad. After the separation, Mezuki felt relaxed and calmer than he did while he was with Tesaki and Kyaputen. It wasn't long before he had found the ration room. The room was very large and was filled with all sorts of stuff; mainly food, but there was also jewelry and clothing. In one end of the room, there were large containers of gasoline.**

**He took out a bag that he had found on the floor and began filling it with the food. After he was finished stuffing the bag, he strapped it on his back and had started setting the charges that Tesaki had given him before they separated. As he left the room he had heard a scream. At first he ignored it, thinking it was a scream from some of the bandits that Tesaki or Kyaputen probably killed, but the scream became louder and clearer. It was a scream of pain and fear of a girl.**

"**No! Someone help me! Get away from me! Please Stop!" These were the screams that Mezuki had heard as he was running closer to the origin of the noise. He tracked the noise to a hidden room of the base. The door to the room had a small window. When he looked through, he saw a small girl around his age chained to the wall and stripped naked, except for her panties. She was covered in dirt. She had long black hair, that too was dirty, and black eyes. "What are you going to do to me?" The girl cried.**

"**I just want to have some fun. At first, you probably won't like it, but trust me when I say this, you'll get used to it." A middle aged man walked up to the girl smiling in a perverted fashion. He had short brown hair, a long nose, and brown eyes. He wore ragged clothing. "Now relax girl." He took out a small knife and placed it around the girl's neck.**

"**Please don't kill me." Tears began running down the girl's neck.**

"**Don't be afraid, I am not going to kill such a…delicate girl like you." The man ran the knife down the girl's body, but not actually cutting her. He stopped, and licked the girl on the neck before slicing her underwear off of her. The girl screamed in fear.**

**Mezuki couldn't take any more of the injustice that was going on before his eyes. He ran into the room and took out a kunai. "Hey you, stop what you are doing!" This was the first time Mezuki had talked during a mission.**

**The man jumped at the sudden noise. "What the hell are you doing here? Who the fuck is you? Can't you see I am having some me time here. Get the fuck out before I kill you kid!"**

"**Release her now or else I am going to hurt you."**

**The weak threat only made the man even madder. "I am Nagi Jukiki. Remember this name when you go to the afterlife. Remember that the reason why you died is because you disrespected the head leader of Bukushu bandit organization."**

'**So he is the head leader of the bandits. I got to be careful.' Mezuki looked at his surroundings to see if there were any other bandits nearby, and there wasn't. He then looked at the girl, who still looked frightened.**

"**Please help me!" The girl begged.**

"**Shut the fuck up you little cunt." Nagi screamed as he made some hand signs. "Katon: Fire Grenade jutsu!" Fire appeared in the man's palm. Nagi threw the fire at Mezuki, who easily dodged it. When the fire touched the floor, it exploded, sending a shock wave that had thrown the boy against the wall and igniting the whole room on fire. The girl screamed.**

**Mezuki opened his eyes to a reality that had now seemed to be a blur; a side effect from knocking his head against the wall. Two large boots stood before him.**

"**You should not have come here kid and tried to be a hero." Nagi took the kunai that Mezuki dropped when he got hit from the shockwave from the fire grenades. He placed the tip of the kunai far above the boy. "Goodbye kid…" With full force, Nagi swung the blade to the boy.**

"**No!" the girl screamed. The scream, somehow had gave Mezuki the strength to get up a move out of the way of the kunai. The boy performed hand signs, and shouted, "Meiton: Black coffin!" Black chakra had shot out of Mezuki's palms and wrapped the man.**

"**What the fuck is this shit! Get it off me!" Nagi screamed in fear. "I'm sorry, it won't happen again. Please just get this off me!" **

**A moment later, the chakra crushed Nagi. Blood spilled all over the room. Mezuki stared at the blood with his eyes wide open, wondering if what he had just did was the right thing. He had just killed someone. Tesaki was wrong about the feelings someone gets when they kill someone. Mezuki felt nothing but regret and sadness.**

**He just stood there as the room was falling apart. He came back to reality when he heard the girl scream again. "Don't worry, I got you." He took out another kunai and covered it in lightning chakra, increasing his cutting range and sharpness. Mezuki sliced the chains off of the girl. The girl fell onto his arm unconscious from lack of oxygen from the smoke. Mezuki felt awkward with the naked girl he was now holding. But he knew that he had to rescue her. It was the right thing to do no matter how much his master would disagree with it. Mezuki also noticed that she was bleeding from her stomach. He ran out of the room and out of the cave.**

**He stared at the entrance of the cave, and began to wonder when his teammates where going to come out. Eventually, he heard Tesaki's voice as he was bragging on how much Orochimaru would be proud of him but disappointed at Kyaputen for not finding the head leader. They could not have found the head leader because Mezuki obliterated Nagi. Mezuki began to think whether or not his teammates would allow a stranger on their mission to rescue, but almost instantly came to the conclusion that they would probably kill the girl. He turned his back to the cave, and began running, abandoning his squad and the mission.**

Present Time…

Mezuki got up from the couch and asked, "Kasumi, let's go see the head doctor. I want to go ask her if she needs any supplies or body parts so the next time I come, I can bring them along.

She stood up, "Okay, follow me Mezuki." The two arrived at a two way staircase, in which they went up. The flight of stairs was very short in distance to get to the next floor.

"How is your ninjutsu going along?" Mezuki asked.

Kasumi had been learning ninjutsu from the head doctor of the building. The head doctor was not only an expert doctor, but she is also an ex-shinobi from Kirigakure. The reason why she left her home village was because she was against the violent nature of the hidden mist.

"It is okay; still better than yours." She joked.

"Yea, okay; whatever you say."

Back to the past…

**When Mezuki was sure that he was at an okay distance from the cave, he stopped running to take a rest. He laid the girl next to him. He then placed his right palm across the girl's forehead. **_**'Good, no fever.'**_** She began to shiver. Mezuki was confused at this because it was a really warm night, warmer than usual. Then it occurred to him that the girl was still naked. He took off his jacket and laid it on her before starting a camp fire.**

**A couple of minutes later, the girl woke up. She saw the boy sitting by a fire eating rice balls. She noticed that she was still had no clothing on her; but she felt safe near him.**

**Mezuki saw the girl staring at him. He picked up a small bag and offered, "You want some dumplings?"**

**The girl stared blankly at the bag. Her stomach growled with excitement. She hasn't eaten anything for days. She took the bag and began eating. After her short meal, she said, "Thank you."**

**Mezuki smile at the comment, "No need to thank me, I have a bunch of food in the bag here. If you want anything else, just ask."**

"**I mean for saving me back in the cave." The girl said in a small harsh tone for the boy not really understanding what she was thanking him for. "I probably would have gotten…" She couldn't finish her sentence.**

**Mezuki again felt sort of awkward, "Well umm… anytime I guess. Where do you live?"**

**The girl swallowed another dumpling. "I live in a small village in the far end of the land of fire border of the land of rivers."**

**Mezuki was amazed at the distance between where she lived and the bandits headquarter where he had found her. "How did you end up all the way over here?"**

**The girl hesitated as she was trying to remember exactly what had happened, as if her brain didn't want to remember. "I was playing on the outskirts of the town with my brother Julien. We were playing hide and seek. It was my brother's turn to seek and I was hiding in a tree when the bandits came. I think they heard me because they dragged me out of my hiding place and imprisoned me in some type of jutsu. Then they brought me to their base. And that's when you came."**

**Mezuki felt bad about the girl's current situation. "I am going to take you back to your home town. But afterwards, I have to head back to my village; okay?"**

"**Okay, but I have one question?"**

"**What is it?"**

"**Can you take off your mask? I want to see your face."**

**Mezuki thought about it for a moment. Orochimaru had strictly told him to never reveal his face during a mission. But Mezuki felt like he can trust the girl, and he technically was not on a mission anymore. So he unmasked himself.**

**The first thing the girl locked her eyes on was Mezuki's unique marking around his right eye. "What is that around your eye?" She had never seen anything like that before in her home town.**

"**I don't know. I think I was born with it. I think it is just some big birthmark."**

**The girl giggled, "Your funny. My name is Kasumi."**

**Mezuki smiled, "I am Mezuki." This was the first real friend that Mezuki had ever made.**


	7. A Day at the Hidden Hospital

Mezuki and Kasumi entered a short hallway. At the ending of the hallway was a rusted metal door. There was a sign that informed anyone who would enter the room. The sign read, _Head Nurse Iza Kidasoro_. Kasumi knocked three times before opening the door.

The inside of the room, as it always has, was the only appealing section of the hospital. The walls were bright white that seem to glitter wherever sunlight hit it. There was a large bookshelf to the right hand wall that had hundreds of books that contained various methods to curing all sorts of illnesses and injuries. The floor was completely covered by a tan colored rug that had not one spec of dirt or dust on it, thought it was rarely every cleaned. There was a similar couch in the center of the room like in the main lobby of the hospital except that this couch was a tan colored sofa to match the rug.

In the far end of the room was a large mahogany desk that bared several books and papers; most likely of some importance. Behind that desk was another bookshelf loaded with books and scrolls.

Sitting had the desk was, no matter what eye someone held at first glance, a fragile old woman who looked like she was going to just fall over and die at any moment. Mezuki knew otherwise. In fact, this old woman was the most skilled medical expert he has ever seen. Possibly even a skilled combatant due to the fact that she originated from the hidden mist.

Kasumi bowed her head. "Good evening lady Iza. I have Mezuki here on his request." She tried to get Mezuki to bow his head also by given him eye signs, but failed in the attempt.

Iza looked up at Mezuki, waiting for him to bow his head. After a minute, she gave up on waiting and began speaking. "Ah…Mezuki is it. I thank you for bringing this hospital a great set of legs. The patient has been waiting a month now for it. Only time will tell for us to see if the patient's body will accept its new limb."

Mezuki smiled at his success of the task given to him a month ago. He was more eager to do the missions that the hospital gives him than the ones Orochimaru assigns to him. The reason why is because the missions Orochimaru, his adopted father, gives him can sometimes become too violent without a just cause to it in the end. The tasks that the hospital needs done are all to help the ones in dire need that becomes injured in the forest that surrounded the building.

"You're welcome lady Iza. Is there anything the hospital needs for the next time I come?" Mezuki asked; ready to get anything the hospital needs from Otogakure. His home village is one of the main sources of supplies that Mezuki uses to give Iza what she needs, or to stock up one specific material.

Iza Kidasoro thought hard about it, and finally came to the conclusion. "Actually, at the moment, we are not short of anything. But if you want, you can come with painkillers and needles. Also, random supplies are good also."

'_Painkillers, needles, and other random supplies…got it'_. He took a mental note, and nodded his head in acceptance of his new mission. "I understand the request." He looked over at Kasumi who still had her head bowed. "I am leaving soon. I will see you in a month lady Iza." Mezuki turned and walked away, still not bowing his head. Kasumi stood up straight and followed her friend.

"I told you a million times to always bow your head to lady Iza. It is a sign of respect!" Kasumi scolded. "Now she probably feels disrespected by you"

Mezuki looked at his friend and smiled. "Why do I need to bow in order to show respect? Is it a rule or something? I don't think so."

"You're so difficult sometimes Mezuki…" Kasumi began.

In front of them was a person that Mezuki quickly recognized. The person stood leaning against the wall, as if waiting for someone to pass by.

Mezuki tried walking by without saying a word, but he knew that the person would begin talking first.

And then, the person spoke. "Hey Kasumi, I guess the rumors were true, the punk actually returned."

His name was Domaru Utakada. Like most of the underage members of the hospital, Domaru was as orphan. His family came from the land of iron. His father committed a crime against the leaders of the land of iron. As a result, the leader sent out a bounty on all members of the Utakada family. In an act to try to save the family, Domaru's father tried to flee with Domaru, Domaru's mother, and his little sister.

When Domaru's family was at the border, they were ambushed by the samurai. Domaru's father was a high ranked samurai, but even that was not enough to stop the wave of samurai that chased them. His mother and father died, but Domaru and his little sister got away by the distraction their father had given the soldiers.

Domaru was homeless for seven months with his little sister. On a mountain trail in the land of lightning, a band of thieves ambushed the two children. Once again, Domaru made an escape by accidently slipping down the side of the mountain when the sidings collapsed, leaving his little sister with the thieves and losing the little they owned. When Domaru woke up from the fall, he was in a wagon driven by Iza Kidasoro. Since then, Domaru has been with Iza and has been a student of hers. This was three years ago.

Mezuki, on the other hand, had disliked Domaru since the first day he met him a year and a half ago. He did not know why, he just did. The same thing goes for Domaru. The two just never got along.

Kasumi saw a change in Mezuki's face expression; of which was a more tense position than when he saw Darui outside of the building.

"Hello Domaru how are you? Why are you just standing there as if there is nothing else to do in the hospital?" Kasumi knows the true reason why, but didn't want to mention it in front of Mezuki so the situation would not get any more awkward.

Domaru smirked, "I'm doing okay; just standing over here because I heard that you were up on the second floor. I wanted to say good morning to you before I get back on my shift. If you need anything, just ask. I am and will always be here for you no matter what."

Mezuki tensed even more. Domaru knew that this will get to him.

Kasumi smiled at the sweet comment but at the same time worried about what might happen if she does not separate the two. "Well thanks Domaru for that." She thought for a moment, and then found a proper excuse for leaving the conversation. "I'll talk to you later because I need to help the children with their studies. Bye Domaru." She placed her palm on Mezuki's back to push him forward. Mezuki did what she wanted. They walked down the stairs.

Mezuki turned back to look at his enemy. When he finished turning his head, Domaru was smirking at him as if he just defeated Mezuki. Mezuki tried to ignore this at just looked away.

When the two were out of sight from Domaru, Kasumi had let go of Mezuki's face and tried to continue calm him down. "Mezuki, why do you always need to act like that when you and Domaru are near each other? He did nothing wrong to you in the hall way."

Mezuki just shrugged and replied, "Whatever, I don't even want to talk about."

Kasumi decided to leave it alone for the moment. Mezuki was leaving in the morning and she did not want the siuation to be prolonged.

They were once again in the lobby. A nurse came in with an injured person The patient was young, either a late teen or a young adult. He had a long gash on his leg a it appeared he had lost alot of blood due to his pale skin.

"Excuse me." The nurse said has she hurriedly ran by the two with the injured on her shoulder.

Mezuki looked at the injured, "Wow, i wonder how that happened. People shouldn't be walking in the forest of this country without knowing how to defend themselves."

"I know, and konohagakure doesn't do much to help out the people in the forests. It is up to us to go searching out for them." Kasumi agreed, too looking at the injury on the man's leg.

They walked outside. The hospital looked crappier now with the sunlight shining on it. More rust and mold showed. Children were playing outside and recovering patients sat on the benches either watching the children play, talking with eachother, or sleeping. This was the common mood of the hospital. Crazy on the inside, calm on the outside. Mezuki never actually played at the hospital; most likely because whenever he came, he had to leave with little time to spare. That time is spend on eating, resting, and gathering the next lists of stok the building needs to manage.

A child came running to Kasumi with tears in his eyes.

"What's wrong Proyito?" She asked in the most soothing voice she could have made. Proyito pulled his right sleeve to reveal a splinter that he had got from playing in the forest. Kasumi, with one glance at the penetration knew exactly what to do. "Okay Proyito, im going to need you to be very still. Can you do that for me?

Proyito shooked his teary head up and down, "Yes Miss Kasumi. Please save me, i don't want to die."

Mezuki smiled at this comment. It reminded him of his first '_Major_' wound.

Time Rewind-Mezuki Age Six

Location- Unnamed Mountain in Land of Rice Paddies

**"Mezuki, gather the remaining tags at the peak of the mountain!" A voice commanded. It was Kyaputen. Mezuki, currently occupied with his two opponents, looked up at the mountain and located the eight explosive tags. If they were to detonate, it will create a landslide big enough to destroy the whole camp. Mezuki thought about the best strategy to get to peak of thee mountain without having to kill his much older opponents.**

**He quickly ducked to the incoming kunai. A fire ball came charging at Mezuki from a third coming from behind. The shinobi spoke with a degrading voice. "So Otogakure is so weak they send children to defend a camp"**

**Mezuki was now surrounded by three jounin level shinobi from Kirigakure. He didn't know what to do without killing them.**

**"Doton: Earth Shackles!" One of the shinobi, which had one eye covered by wrapping, casted the technique. At first it appeared that nothing happened, until he felt huge pressure on his legs. He looked at his feet and saw that they were completely covered in rock. Mezuki was immobilized. The three shinobi began to run towards the kid with kunais in their hands. Mezuki frozed at his imminent death. **

**Mezuki blinked. Once he did that, the three shinobi that was running towards him was lying on the ground dead.**___**What? Did i... But i didn't mean...**_** Blood covered the ground surrounding the dead bodies.**

**"Is that what Lord Orochimaru has been teaching you?" It was Kimimaro Kaguya, one of Mezuki's rivals and friends. With a quick swing of a bone blade, the sediment that wrapped Mezuki was shattered. **

**Mezuki smiled, "thank you Kimimaro, but i am still going to beat you one day" **

**Kimimaro smiled as well, "Go finish your assignment. quickly before its too late." Mezuki nodded his head as he ran up the mountain. He looked back and saw that Kimimaro going against seven other shinobi.**

**Kimimaro was the only sound ninja that Mezuki believed too have enough talent to be considered his rival, and was dedicated in surpassing.**

**Mezuki made it to the top of the mountain and saw the tags that Kyaputen ordered him to disable. He reached for them, but was stopped by a kunai that landed in front of his hand. He looked back and saw a shinobi, short blonde hair, darker skin, and had two blades attached to his back.**

**"Kid, this is no place for you. Leave and I will make sure that you live. I could even take you back to the Kiri and giv you a real home if you want." The man walked closer. "My name is Q, and i will be happy to give you a home."**

**Mezuki truly thought about going with the man, but then he remembered that if he left, Orochimaru will no longer have any use for Suruya, and then probably kill her or do one of his experiments on her.**

**"I can't go with you, please leave and let me do what I have to do."**

**"I am afraid i can not do that. If you do not allow those tags to go off, then i will fail my mission. That means i will have no choice but to kill you so i complete my mission."**

**Mezuki did not respond, but simply took out a kunai.**

**Q drew one of his swords. "Sorry kid, but you leave me no choice." In a blink of an eye, Q was above Mezuki prepared to slice Mezuki. Mezuki rolled to his left, dodging then threw the kunai at Q. Q dodged the dull attack and began ninja-like running to Mezuki. He swung, and the boy ducked. Q swung rapidly, but the boy always found a way to dodge Q's sword.**

**"Not bad..." Q threw his sword to Mezuki. The boy jumped. "Raiton: Lightning Dragon jutsu!" Mezuki's eyes widened at the length of the lightning natured technique.**

**Mezuki performed hand signs, "Meiton: Kanpekina shīrudo! (Perfect Shield)" Dark Chakra surrounded Mezuki as the dragon clashed on it." As the shield disinigraded, Q was gone from his previous location.**

_**`Where is he?` **_**A large pain exploded on Mezuki's left leg as he dropped. He screamed.**

**Q's blade pierced Mezuki. He pulled out the sword. "Too late for any regrets." Q raised his blade in an exectuion-like style.**

**Mezuki tossed a kunai at the sword, knocking it out of Q's hand, giving himself time to get some distance. He jumped a few meters back. As he landed, the pain in his leg grew worse and he kneeled down. **_**`Lord Orochimaru will be upset if I fail the mission. But I cannot kill someone...I just can't.`**_

**Q retrieved his sword and turned to the injured boy. "You stalled your death for long enough kid. Otogakure will crumble." Q performed hand signs and gribbed his blade, causing his sword to gain more reach and to become sharper.**

**In front of Mezuki stood a familiar figure. He had pale skin and long black hair. It was Orochimaru himself.**

**Orochimaru completely ignored the enemy shinobi and looked at Mezuki. He seemed upset. "Mezuki, I see that you had perfected that shield of yours. I'm quite disappointed at the fact that you needed assistance twice today." He checked Mezuki's wound. "You are not seriously injured. I will have an escort for you to head back to the village. Go see Suruya and tell her that I said to heal you immediatly for your next mission."**

**Two sound ninja appeared behind Mezuki. "We are ready for our departure sir." These were the two guards that are escorting Mezuki to Otogakure.**

**Q began to scream. Orochimaru had instantly, without even Mezuki noticing it, surrounded Q with snakes that each were taking bites of him. Q died soon after.**

Back to the present

Mezuki and Kasumi was walking in the forest, watching the children play. Even though they were young also, they were leaders and had no time for fun and games.

"Mezuki, before I forget, a letter came for you last night while you were asleep." Kasumi stated as she picked out a closed small scroll out of her pocket with Mezuki's name on it.

Mezuki normally got mail at the hospital. Whenever he helped someone on one of his missions, he asked if they can give whatever they can at the hospital's location. However, he limited the number of people to tell the hospital's location to for the safety of the building.

However, this mail looked different from the others. Usually, people would mail money, clothing, materials, and things in that nature. Sometimes, Mezuki would get a thank you card. This scroll looked different. Mezuki took it and placed it in his book bag. "I will read it later."

"Nurse Kasumi, is that you?" A woman's voice called out. Mezuki turned to look who it was. She wore no ninja headband, meaning she belonged to no village. She had long blonde hair and had a green gem on her forehead.

"Oh, hey Lady Tsunade." Kaumi turned to Mezuki. "Mezuki, this is the nurse that I told you about. She is amazing."

Tsunade didn't even acknowledge Kasumi's complement. "I am leaving soon. My work here is done."

"Yes Lady Tsunade." Kasumi gave Tsunade a hand shake, "Thank you for helping us last night. Sorry we couldn't pay you."

Tsunade stopped and stared at Mezuki. She felt like she had a connection with this boy, but she doesn't know what that connection was. "That is okay Kasumi. I owed lady Iza money, so I came to pay off my debt by helping her with the surgery."

Mezuki became uncomfortable at this stranger's stare, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Kasumi quickly responded, "Mezuki, don't be so rude."

Tsunade gave a quick laugh of disapproval, "And what village are you from? I know that you don't live here at the hospital, and I saw your fight last night. You are highly trained."

Mezuki gave the usual answer, "I travel from place to place learning all that I can. I do not belong to any village."

Tsunade became upset, "Don't give me that bullshit! No wandering shinobi is that trained. And this aura that I am getting from you, we have met before, but I do not know where. So just tell me the village, or I will have to hurt you, then heal you, then hurt you some more until you tell me what I would like to know."

Kasumi stayed out of the argument.

"Lady, don't do this to yourself please." Mezuki begged, not wanting to fight again in front of kids.

She walked up to Mezuki. "Don't make be hit you with my finger." The doctor threatened.

"What is a finger of an old woman going to do? Mezuki challenged.

Tsunade cocked he middle finger back and placed it in front of the boy's forhead... then released. The force of this lady's finger was so immensed that it sent Mezuki soaring into the forest, crashing through bushes and trees for several yards.

"Mezuki!" Kasumi, who had shown great respect for Tsunade, was now frightened at her power.


End file.
